Snoop Dogg

When hip-hop and NBA stars want a good time, they call party queen Mona Halem. Inside a decadent world of $700 champagne, secret guest lists and hordes of beautiful women

By Courtney Shea | Photograph by Dave Gillespie

Mona Halem at Uniun nightclub in March

On a Monday night last August, half the hip-hop world showed up unannounced in Toronto: Lil Wayne, P. Diddy, Kanye West, Big Sean, French Montana, Mase, TLC. All had agreed to perform as surprise guests at Drake’s annual concert, OVO Fest, which, like all things Drake, has become wildly successful. The ability to produce a roster of acts that reads like a fantasy Grammy lineup speaks to Drake’s clout, but the secrecy involved presented a practical problem: with no advance notice, nobody had organized an after-party. For this group of career ballers, it was a rare case of all blinged out and nowhere to go. Even Drizzy, who lives in Toronto for at least part of the year, was at a loss. Then someone suggested the obvious: call Mona.

Aftershock producer Eli Roth, who memorably responded to, and followed up on,Snoop Lion’s Reincarnated rallying cry, was spotted at the Spoke Club last evening without the newly minted reggae artist in sight. The Snoop-Roth alliance may not have reached the heights of some past festivalpairs, but it was glorious while it lasted.

In the run-up to the world premiere of Reincarnated,Snoop Lion (the name Snoop Dogg gave himself after his rasta rebirth) had the most entertaining TIFF-related Twitter feed, bouncing back and forth between gleefully shameless self-promotion,Instagram shots of his trip to Toronto and shout-outs to other celebs (asking them to see his film, naturally). Actor, producer and horror director Eli Roth, one of those celebs, followed up on his earlier Twitter promises and made an appearance on the red carpet with his pal Snoop. Also present, of course, was the film’s director, Andy Capper, looking particularly tiny and British next to the six-foot-four rapper and Vice co-founder Suroosh Alvi (he brought along fellow Vice-er Shane Smith). Other rappers present: Daz Dillinger, one half of ’90s gangster group Tha Dogg Pound, who walked the carpet in a sharp Dilly That Dogg T-shirt, and local boy Kardinal Offishall, who tweeted this epic photo shortly thereafter. (Props must be given to Roots founder Michael Budman or his marketing team for outfitting Snoop in the red, yellow and green–branded jacket above.)

“I was double-dutchin’, jumping in and out,” said Snoop Lion, née Snoop Dogg (ok, actually née Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr., but who’s counting?). He was referring to the life he lived before he discovered reggae and the Rastafari movement, living half like a child and half like a man. Snoop’s transition is charted in Andy Capper’s doc Reincarnated, which made its world premiere at TIFF yesterday. Capper joined Snoop at TIFF’s press conference for the film, alongside producers Ted Chung and Suroosh Alvi (co-founder of Vice) and moderator George Stroumboulopoulos.

The jokes write themselves about the newly renamed Snoop Lion (formerly Snoop Dogg), but the documentary Reincarnated, premiering at TIFF, takes a serious look at what exactly happened during Snoop’s month-long vacation/pilgrimage in Jamaica—and why he traded rap for reggae. Vice Magazine global editor Andy Capper hones in on how the rapper’s acquittal on a murder charge, numerous arrests and bans from the U.K., Australia and Norway culminated in the journey to Jamaica, where he found some peace and a lot of marijuana and renewed his conviction that he is a reincarnation of Bob Marley. The newfound mellowness is charming—though we’ve yet to accustom ourselves to his new moniker.

It may have felt like Californian rapper and frequent, uh, smokerSnoop Lion (formerly Snoop Dogg, formerly Snoop Doggy Dogg) adopted his newest, ever-so-slightly-more-ferocious monikeralmost overnight. In truth, the persona was at least a month in the making. Vice Magazine editor Andy Capper directed Reincarnated, a documentary that follows the newly minted reggae artist’s “spiritual odyssey/career reinvention” during his month-long vacay in Jamaica. Both director and subject will be here for TIFF. Snoop, alongside Coco’s husband, rapper-cum-Law and Order actor Ice-T, will also be featured in another TIFF movie, Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp, a biopic of sorts that blends interviews with pulp fiction iconography to tell the story of pimp and prolific author Iceberg Slim. With (at least!) two seasoned rappers at this year’s festival, we’re feeling pretty good about the chances for an encounter to equal last year’s meeting between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ludacris.

Snoop Dogg, the rapper who has worked with everyone from Tupac (in both flesh and hologram form) to Katy Perry,is coming to TIFF to premiere his documentary Reincarnated. TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey broke the news moments ago on Twitter, and he hinted that Snoop Doggy Dogg isn’t the only rapper who will be in town for the festival. Will TIFF have a Biggie hologram? Here’s hoping. [Twitter]